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Scripting the Client / automated test harness for the SecondLife Client
blaze Spinnaker
1/2 Serious
Join date: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 5,898
05-12-2005 15:52
***** this.

Test your own **** software.
Vektor Linden
Test Troll
Join date: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 53
05-12-2005 16:01
Blaze,

*sweet*!

I would like to speak with you more on this, soon...I have worked very heavily with automation in the past, and would like to know more about your tool.

Sounds neat!
Ushuaia Tokugawa
Nobody of Consequence
Join date: 22 Mar 2005
Posts: 268
05-12-2005 16:08
From: blaze Spinnaker

Mostly I have used this for generation of cache keys, automated offering of teleports, and other things..


automated blackjack playing :D

Sightly off topic but since you mention it, I would be interested in seeing what you have along the lines of automatically pulling in records into the name.cache file if it's ready for prime time and you're willing to share.
blaze Spinnaker
1/2 Serious
Join date: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 5,898
05-12-2005 16:11
***** this.
blaze Spinnaker
1/2 Serious
Join date: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 5,898
05-12-2005 16:15
The cache key pulling stuff is a bit annoying because it takes about 23 minutes per name, and I have limited monthly bandwidth so i can't really run it forever.

However, the rest of it is pretty simple in concept.

In order to create a test script, someone just needs to come up with the coordinates and the order in which they'd like to type / click on stuff.
SuezanneC Baskerville
Forums Rock!
Join date: 22 Dec 2003
Posts: 14,229
05-18-2005 22:33
Blaze, you are using pixel offsets to determine where program generated mouse clicks occur?

Is there no way to execute menu options like "Edit / Preferences"? One could do this with a normal windows application, is one not able to do this with SL because it doesn't use normal Windows routines and resources for menus and other interface elements but instead draws the entire screen, menus and buttons included, with OpenGl instead?
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Ulrika Zugzwang
Magnanimous in Victory
Join date: 10 Jun 2004
Posts: 6,382
05-18-2005 23:05
From: blaze Spinnaker
I have written in C++ an application which automatically clicks on various dialogues and windows and tweaks various settings by controlling the mouse and sending keyboard button presses and controlling the mouse pointer.
Groovy monkey! I didn't know you could do stuff like this. :)

So how do you make it work? Do you compile it with, say, gcc and then execute it as a stand-alone application with SL running? Please educate me.

~Ulrika~
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Chik-chik-chika-ahh
Hank Hoodoo
Middle Management
Join date: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 65
05-19-2005 07:14
This approach looks cool and potentially more powerful, but for what it's worth I've had a decent amount of success experimenting with similar things using Applescript (of all things) and iKey (http://www.scriptsoftware.com/ikey/). This obviously only applies to Mac users, but it's pretty easy to set up without a huge amount of programming knowledge.

One issue I've had is keeping the position of internal popup windows consistent - I'm clicking by mouse-offsets in the SL window as a whole, so if I accidentally move my "find" menu to the left or something while playing, my auto-clicks won't be hitting in the right place anymore. Blaze, does your system deal with that sort of thing?
blaze Spinnaker
1/2 Serious
Join date: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 5,898
05-19-2005 11:01
It doesn't deal with offsets, actually. I just use the default screen size / coordinates on my current box.

I work with visual studio and there is a bunch of code missing which I don't include so we can't abuse it too much just yet, ie: you have to know what you're doing.

You could probably get a CLI compiler, though I'm not sure it's free..
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Taken from The last paragraph on pg. 16 of Cory Ondrejka's paper "Changing Realities: User Creation, Communication, and Innovation in Digital Worlds :

"User-created content takes the idea of leveraging player opinions a step further by allowing them to effectively prototype new ideas and features. Developers can then measure which new concepts most improve the products and incorporate them into the game in future patches."
Ulrika Zugzwang
Magnanimous in Victory
Join date: 10 Jun 2004
Posts: 6,382
05-19-2005 11:26
From: Hank Hoodoo
This approach looks cool and potentially more powerful, but for what it's worth I've had a decent amount of success experimenting with similar things using Applescript (of all things) and iKey (http://www.scriptsoftware.com/ikey/). This obviously only applies to Mac users, but it's pretty easy to set up without a huge amount of programming knowledge.

One issue I've had is keeping the position of internal popup windows consistent - I'm clicking by mouse-offsets in the SL window as a whole, so if I accidentally move my "find" menu to the left or something while playing, my auto-clicks won't be hitting in the right place anymore. Blaze, does your system deal with that sort of thing?
Fascinating! I'm impressed.

I'm a Mac user, so I'll check out iKey and see what mischief I can get into. :D

~Ulrika~
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Chik-chik-chika-ahh